


Tying Ties

by ohmwork



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff and Angst, I'm Sorry, Lance is so sad, M/M, and keith is so in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 20:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8071132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmwork/pseuds/ohmwork
Summary: Lance looks fantastic. The way the white shirt is rolled up halfway on his arms and his vest snugly fits his torso gets Keith feeling certain off-limits thoughts. Even his hair is styled differently, neatly parted and gelled. He looks incredible. Keith can’t do anything to look away. Turning his eyes down gives him a view of those slim hips and-
“Keith! Are you just going to leave your mullet out like that?” 
(Alternately, Lance is a sad space boy and Keith is space boy in love)





	

**Author's Note:**

> gahh i wanted some angsty klance and then like my fav voltron artist thesearchingastronaut on tumblr mentioned something about wanting a fic based on a drawing of hers where the boys + allura are in formal wear. Of course i had to oblige <3 so here is some angsty klance shit

Liberating planets is definitely the best part of the job. Being a defender of the universe isn’t easy in any way and it’s hard to deal with the fact that they’ll likely never see Earth again, but freeing other species is rewarding. Especially when they throw parties.

The planet they’ve been staying on reminds Keith a lot of Earth. It’s much smaller, probably the size of their moon but the land is very similar. There are tall, snowcapped mountains in the distance, rivers, streams, and creeks flowing coolly like veins in the soft, umber soil and green pastures full of foreign, gorgeous flowers.

Even the inhabitants are human-like. They’re a little taller than average, some of the males more than a head taller than Shiro, have pale blue skin like the sky and eyes that blink vertically, otherwise they’re very similar. They speak a different language, but have developed a universal translator, which has proved vital in their release of Zarkon’s tyranny.

The Queen has invited them to a dinner party in her castle in thanks for their hard work. Keith isn’t exactly too keen on going, specifically because a suit has been laid out for him in the room he’s staying in. Formal wear is not a favorite Keith’s. He would much rather opt for something more comfortable. But, Allura threated him with level 46 training, something an Altean ten year old could manage, apparently. Shiro just gave him his signature dad look and a pat on the shoulder.

At least he won’t be the only one in the fancy get up; the whole team will look as ridiculous as he will. Keith leaves the suit jacket hung on the door, though. It felt perfect, but he couldn’t stand how much he looked like a waiter or something. When he arrives in the common bathroom to check how he looks and attempt to fix this dumb bow tie, he sees Lance in there too.

Lance looks fantastic. The way the white shirt is rolled up halfway on his arms and his vest snugly fits his torso gets Keith feeling certain off-limits thoughts. Even his hair is styled differently, neatly parted and gelled. He looks incredible. Keith can’t do anything to look away. Turning his eyes down gives him a view of those slim hips and-

“Keith! Are you just going to leave your mullet out like that?” Lance looks utterly offended that Keith didn’t do anything to his hair. Of course he is. What else is he to do?

“Yeah?”

“No, absolutely not. Come here.” Lance grabs a tube of god knows what and twists off the cap.

“I don’t think so. You’re not putting any alien goop on my face!” Keith starts walking backwards toward the door. It’s green and looks like the stuff in the kitchen back on the ship.

“I’m not going to put it on your face, Keith. I’m going to try to do something about that mullet of yours. And I’m going to tie your tie because you did it wrong.”

It’s true. Keith has no idea how to tie a bow tie or a necktie; it was never something that was necessary to learn. He just tied it in a knot and called it good. However, there is no way he’s letting Lance put his goopy hands all over him. Not in his hair, not on his face, not near his head at all. Especially not when he looks that _good_.

“Get away!” Keith’s back hits the door and he lifts his arms up in an offensive stance just in case Lance decides to advance any further.

“Honestly, we’re going to a formal event, can you stop being an ass for five seconds?” Lance sounds so exasperated as if he’s had to say that often. It’s a weird feeling for Keith; usually it’s him telling Lance to quit being annoying. It stings a little. “Just let me fix your tie at least?” Lance puts the tube down and sighs. Something isn’t right.

“Fine,” Keith grumbles, lifting his chin for easier access. Lance begins to untie his messy knot and properly tie the black bow around his neck.

“I have a bunch of siblings,” Lance says with a small smile on his face, “and someone always had a dance, a luncheon, or other formal event. I was the designated tie tier. My oldest brother was in charge of ironing everything for the boys and my younger brother handed out the cufflinks. My mother said it would make things run smoother but honestly, my older brother can’t use an iron to save his life and always pawned it off on my older sister.” He tells the story as if he’s proud of them even if it sounds like a hassle. But as soon as he’s done, his demeanor drops again. If Keith were not this close to him, he wouldn’t have been able to notice the tears welling up in Lance’s eyes. But he is, and he can see them.

“Lance-“

“Okie dokie, your tie is fixed. At least brush your mullet or something.” Lance’s voice breaks but he keeps talking and smiling as if it didn’t.

“You can fix my hair too if you want,” Keith says it before he really thinks. It’s disturbing seeing Lance so vulnerable and Keith will do anything to bring back the silly, dumb, annoying guy he’s used to.

“Nah, don’t want to overstep my boundaries. See ya out there, mullet boy,” Lance says and walks out.

Keith stands there completely dumbfounded. Lance doesn’t want to overstep boundaries? He always does! Something is seriously wrong. Lance never tells Keith stories about his family back home. That’s the first time he’s heard something about his siblings besides when he’s talking to Hunk or Pidge. Maybe Hunk will know what the matter is.

In a hurry, Keith just pulls his hair back into a small ponytail and attempts to style his unruly bangs before giving up and heading out to the common dining area. The ceilings are impossibly tall and the walls are lined with all kinds of art ranging from abstract splatter to contemporary nude paintings. They’re beautiful for sure. _Nothing compared to Lance, though_.

Keith can’t get the image of Lance in that damned vest out of his head. He knew that Lance looked good. Anyone with eyes can see that he’s just a little attractive but tonight… Keith has to swallow his thoughts before they get out of hand. He’s been pretty good about hiding his crush on Lance for a while now.

Finally, Keith finds Hunk. Why he didn’t think to look around the buffet bar first is beyond him, nonetheless he slides up next to his friend awkwardly. How exactly do you ask if your fellow member of Voltron is okay without showing that you care in the slightest?

“Oh, hey, Keith! You look pretty nice,” Hunk says, smiling. His eyes sparkle but that could be because the food here looks a thousand times more appetizing than the green schlop that Coran feeds them.

“Oh thanks. These clothes fit pretty well, actually.”

“Yeah, Lance made them! He look measurements based off our space suits and worked with the royal tailors the week we’ve been here to make these outfits for us,” Hunk says, dumping some kind of pink mash on his already full plate.

Lance made these suits? “Speaking of Lance, is he okay? He was acting especially weird in the bathroom.” Keith tries to make his voice sound as annoyed as possible while he serves himself a scoop of the same pink mash.

“Well,” Hunk suddenly looks apprehensive, “he just misses Earth. And this place reminds him a lot of home.”

Keith never had a particular attachment to Earth. He wanted to be a fighter pilot for many reasons, one of them to get away. However, it makes a lot sense that Lance is feeling homesick. He has a family back on Earth. It actually makes a lot of sense the way he was so adamant about tidying up Keith’s appearance. He misses his family.

Lance comes out, Shiro in tow with a smile across his face. Almost immediately, he begins flirting with one of the native women, her cheeks flushing deep lavender. Keith’s mouth downturns at the sight. It’s so annoying when Lance flirts with alien women _and not me_. Keith shakes his head and stomps over to a table.

“You look like Prince Eric,” a familiar voice says behind him. Keith turns around and sees Lance smiling widely as he takes a seat.

“I don’t know what that means, but I’ll take it as an insult.”

“Don’t be that way! We had a bonding moment; I tied your tie.”

Keith’s cheeks feel hot at the reference to that day so long ago. It feels like years ago. It could have been days though. Time means nothing this far away from Earth. Coran tries to keep track of the “days” for them as best as he can, but there is no sunrise, no sunset, no sun at all. It’s practically impossible.

“Whatever.” Keith stabs s piece of some orange leaf and sticks his lower lip out a little. _He is so annoying!_

“Thanks, by the way,” Lance says, leaning back in his chair. He looks up to the ceiling thoughtfully and Keith thinks that he looks even more beautiful like that. So pure, so elegant, so mature. Keith would have never used any of those words for Lance before tonight. However, many of Keith’s preconceived notions about Lance changed tonight.

“For what?”

“Letting me fix your bow. I know you hate me or whatever, so I appreciate it.” Lance waves his hand as if it’s nothing.

Keith scrunches his eyebrows. He doesn’t hate Lance and never has. Not even when they first met and Lance swore they were arch rivals. Not even when the fool was annoying and almost got them killed.

“I don’t hate you.”

“Okay, well you don’t like me and I get it. This place just reminds me of Earth, you know? I wish I could tie my brother’s ties again and-“ Lance doesn’t get to finish his statement before Allura is plopping down beside him. Quickly, he wipes his eyes and makes some quip about how beautiful the princess looks.

Lance was about to open up further to Keith. He was about to bare himself to his _rival_. If Allura hadn’t sat down, what would he have said? Curiosity rips Keith apart and he has to grit his teeth to avoid telling Allura to beat it so he can hear what Lance had to say. He wants to know more about Lance’s family and what his sisters were in charge of and what knots he knows how to tie and which tie is his favorite.

“Allura, the Queen requested you at her table,” Shiro says from behind Keith, making him jump. Allura nods and stands up. Keith thanks Shiro, the Queen of this planet, and the universe for the timing because he was about to combust.

“We’re your family too, Lance,” Keith blurts. Lance snaps his head to look at Keith and he suddenly feels so hot. Burning hot. Magma hot with the way Lance’s eyes bore into his own. “I’m not a very good brother, but Hunk and Pidge are great and Shiro is like a father and Allura our mother. Coran too. We’re your family out here in space. You can tie our ties now.”

“Keith,” Lance sobs, tears rolling down his cheeks. Keith should be put off by the ugliness of Lance’s dripping nose and red eyes but it’s endearing and beautiful.

Pushing himself out of his chair, Keith wraps his arms around Lance, letting him cry on his shoulder. People start to look at them and Keith glares at them all. This is a moment for them. Only them.  

“I’ll remember this time,” Lance sniffs.

“What?”

“I didn’t remember the last time you cradled me in your arms. I’ll remember it this time.”

Keith will remember it too.


End file.
